Day: May 22, 2014

Posted May 22, 2014

by Jerry Alatalo

Ewald Stadler was born on May 21, 1961 in Austria, studied law at the University of Innsbruck, was a member of the Freedom Party of Austria until 2007, then became a member of the Alliance for the Future of Austria until 2013, and helped establish a new reform party. He is married – he and his wife have six children. He became a member of the European Parliament in 2011.

Mr. Stadler sat down with Press TV for an edition of “Face to Face” recently, sharing his independent views about Ukraine, Syria, the state of the European Union, and National Security Agency (NSA) spying as revealed by Edward Snowden.

On Syria, he sees the primary motivation of the United States as eliminating Russia’s single military/naval base on the Mediterranean Sea at Syria. For Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the basis of their involvement providing financing of mercenaries in the Syrian war is to destroy the nation because of Syria’s involvement with Iran.

On Ukraine, he finds that current United States geopolitical actions are in line with those proposed by Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor Zbigniew Brzyzinski, which he finds both stupid and irrational. Being this is the first time hearing of Ewald Stadler and his opinions, he comes across as someone who is rare among politicians – plain-speaking and very straightforward. He believes the actions taken by the US and its European partners are wrong for the EU, and worries that, unless the situation in Ukraine returns to rational dialogue and away from military actions and sanctions, the potential of a “hot war” remains.

Mr. Stadler matter-of-factly states that the people of Crimea had the right of self-determination to join Russia, and that the move was consistent with international law. He finds it simple/obvious to understand that the EU is unwise to be dealing with members of Ukraine’s government who are also members of the Svoboda party, given that party’s platform/ideology on Russians, Jews, and Germans. He says the EU has to take Russia’s security interests into consideration, pointing out that if Russia had made the same actions as the US in Mexico, Canada, or areas similarly close to America, the US would react the same as Russia, but that because of US/European moral double standards these considerations have not occurred.

He prays that rationality prevails with regard to the situation in Ukraine because, he believes, “everything we (EU/US) are doing now is irrational.” He predicts that parties in European states who oppose US/EU actions in Ukraine will win more seats in Parliament in the next elections. He sees human rights groups getting involved with politics as clever strategies to bring about regime change, and that human rights principles only exist as they relate to nations’ own interests. Mr. Stadler doesn’t believe there are any “neutral” government-sponsored human rights groups.

His views on the European Union are not optimistic, sharing that he sees that problems related to currency and financial markets haven’t been solved. The problems solved have been only those experienced by banks and nothing more – namely austerity and unemployment in many EU member states.

On Iran, he defends that nation’s right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, that sanctions are unjust in the same way sanctions against Iraq were, and that Iran maintains a position they are very able to defend. He sees Iran sanctions as another example of moral double standards of western policy – where everything western powers do is good and okay, while everything the “others” do is wrong and not okay.

On the NSA spying issue, Stadler finds it impossible to believe that there is any threat of terrorism in his country Austria, and no rationalization for the NSA to collect virtually everything from Austria for six straight months. He finds NSA revelations about worldwide spying “completely unacceptable”, and said he thinks “US moral standards are so low they can’t see what they do is wrong.”

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I found Ewald Stadler’s style refreshing in that he matter-of-factly speaks what he believes in a plain and easy to understand way. As mentioned, this is the first time I’ve heard his views, and will try to find more detailed talks from him that may convey more specific recommendations on any/all the areas touched upon in this twenty-five minute interview. That said, this site now includes the voice of a person from Austria.

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World Peace Is Possible

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